Dietary guidelines again urge cut in salt, sugar, fats

WASHINGTON - The Department of Agriculture, as it does every five years, has issued new guidelines for improving the nation's diet, but the main recommendations were steps that Americans have so far largely avoided: cutting back on salt, sugar and saturated fats, and consuming more fruits and vegetables.

The preliminary version of the latest Dietary Guidelines for Americans, released Tuesday, are not much different from those issued 30 years ago. What may give them added weight this time is the growing mountain of evidence showing the high price in disease and medical costs of linking an overweight, sedentary lifestyle to disease and high medical costs.

"The basic advice is the same. The new twist is that they're recognizing the fact that it's very hard for people to follow that advice," said Margo Wootan, nutrition policy director of the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest.

Acknowledging the lack of progress, the USDA Guidelines Advisory Committee said the recommendations, issued every five years, are aimed at "an American public of whom the majority are overweight or obese and yet undernourished in several key nutrients."

Both the increasing severity of the problem and its cost are reflected in the new recommendations on salt. Americans consume an average of 3,400 milligrams of salt daily, and excessive intake has been implicated in heart disease, strokes and other maladies costing billions of dollars annually.

The new guidelines lower the recommended maximum daily intake of salt from 2,300 milligrams per day to 1,500 mg. In 2005, the lower figure was the recommended maximum only for blacks, people of all races middle-aged and older, and people with high blood pressure.